Number of March layoffs highest in a year

Washington
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While Washington is touting economic recovery as the political dish of the day, during March employers in government and private sectors were the busiest in a year conducting exit interviews for laid-off employees.

While U.S. unemployment ostensibly dropped a tad recently, a report out Thursday shows more Americans were laid off from their jobs in March than any other month since the end of 2011.

In contrast, employers in March planned to cut 49,255 jobs, down 11 percent from 55,356 in February, according to a report from consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

March layoffs were 30 percent higher from the same time last year which is the fourth time in the last six months that monthly job cuts have been higher than the year before.

Even though the White House has been quick to claim credit for creating millions of jobs, during the first quarter, 145,041 workers were dismissed in layoffs, up 5.6 percent from the fourth quarter of last year.

March saw retailers making the most cuts, racking up16,445 layoffs, up from 2,279 in February. Retail firms cut 25,400 jobs in the first quarter, but were topped by the financial sector's 33,819 in the first quarter.

Despite the Obama sequester that cut $85 billion in government spending, beginning last month, the legislation has had minimal impact on the economy with government layoffs at just 1,448 in March, according to the report.

At the same time the federal budget deficit for 2013 came in just under a trillion dollars. Government spending is budgeted at $3.803 trillion, while government revenue will only be $2.902 trillion, which means the government will spend about $901 billion that it does not have despite the sequester. In 2012 the deficit was $1.327 trillion; 2011 - $1.299 trillion; 2010 - $1.293 trillion, and in 2009 the government ran a $1.413 trillion deficit.

Despite a $787 billion dollar government stimulus bill signed into law by newly-elected Barack Obama in 2008, unemployment hovered at around 8 percent throughout much of his first term.

While Mr. Obama has credited himself and his administration with creating over 4.5 million jobs, about 400,000 fewer people are currently employed than in January of 2009.